


One the Edge, All for You

by Aria_Verde



Category: Spells Swords & Stealth Series - Drew Hayes
Genre: Also includes the current party characters, Gen, Going Rogue, I mean the fourth book is out but I'm going to put these tags on out of courtesy, I mean they're kinda possessed so I don't know how much autonomy they actually have, Kinda, Oneshot, Spoilers, feel free to build on this idea if you want tho, will (probably) not continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 17:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17964491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Verde/pseuds/Aria_Verde
Summary: Gabrielle takes a little longer to wake up in the Treasure room, so Eric teleports away.





	One the Edge, All for You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot. I might add more chapters if I get more ideas on how to expand this, but no guarantee. Also, I listen to the audio version of these books, so if I spelt a name incorrectly, please let me know! I was able to search for most of the characters names, but I haven’t been able to find a few. As mentioned in the tags, feel free to build upon this idea a bit more or to PM me to discuss it or any other SS&S ideas you might have! 
> 
> Cheers!

She was dead. 

Gabby was dead. 

Between the voices that whispered infinite knowledge in his head and this single, all-consuming thought, Eric was working more on autopilot than anything else. Thistle’s words and the outsider’s actions proved their worth to remain amongst them - for now. 

“The sins of your kind are not yours to bare.”

No one relaxed at those words, but he didn’t expect them to. He certainly wasn’t. 

These intruders might not deserve retribution for their sins, but the other parasites... he understood, now, why Aldron has started his crusade. Parasites infested their world, wore their people’s skin, stole their lives, and threw them away without a second thought. They were treated like pawns in a game they had no inkling to and the more Eric glimpses from the bridge, the more his anger - no, hatred - grew. But where Aldron had been wrong was that he had used the Bridge constantly in his efforts to destroy the threat. In trying to save their world he ultimately did more damage than the adventurers and their puppeteers ever could.

And while there were kind ones, intruders who seemed to recognize they were just that and had the decency to treat the world better than their brethren, there were just as many who slaughtered the innocents around them. These were the parasites who deserved to be murdered for their crimes. 

“No. To punish you would be wrong, for you have done so much for us. But that doesn’t mean there are those who shouldn’t face retribution.”

“Eric, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” it was Thistle again, “but whatever it is I don’t think it’s a path you want to walk upon. Please, let the artifacts go and let’s talk about this- ”

“NO.” His voice shook the cavern. He hadn’t meant to amplify it, “No, I won’t them go. There’s too much that needs to be done. I can’t let them go just yet.”

Grumph stepped forward, “Eric, that’s enough. Put the artifacts down.”

“Can’t you see?” He began, “Can’t you see how infested our world has become with their kind?” He gestures to the four who remained, “And while they might be decent, what of the other bastards who murder us for shits and giggles? They shouldn’t be here.”

“If you don’t put them down,” Timuscor raised his weapons pointing them at Eric, “I’ll have to force you. Please, don’t make us do this.”

He scowled at his friends and glanced at Gabby’s body. You would have stood with me, right Gabby?

T̳̺͎̦̥͚h̻̫͙e̖̮͍͔̱̠̠Y͚ ͚̜͇̬͠w̦͈̭̟̬I͔̼̗͓̠L̳͇̘͎̻l̺͍̗̪ ̡lE̲̪̬̜̯͟t̵͔̜͍̹͚͖ͅ ̼͝t̟̤h̘̟̪̮̦̤̩EM͕͎ ̰͇̲f͈͚̺̮E̗̞̗̱̞͓S̛̫t͢e͎R̵̙̖̠͖.̭͙͖̮̗.̢̠͚̞͖͔͕͔.the piece in his right hand whispered.

Gabrielle didn’t deserve to die. He stumbled to her corpse and kneeled beside her. After shifting the artifacts so they were both in one hand, Eric gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Tentative footsteps approached from behind.

“She would have understood.” It was barely more than a whisper as it left his lips. He chuckled, dark and foreboding, “She would have...”

“No, in fact, I’m pretty sure she would be smacking you for being stupid right now,” Thistle said. 

Adjusting his grip so he held one artifact in each hand, he rose once more, “...Regardless. There is work to do.”

“Eric -” The rest was drowned out as the artifacts glowed once more and whisked him away somewhere safer.

Back in the cavern, Thistle stood with his hand outstretched towards where Eric had just been standing. It was at this moment that the body that was Gabrielle moved, and the formally blond woman sat up.

“Thistle?” Her voice was a bit raspy but it seemed to clear up quickly, “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Thistle cursed as Timuscor walked up to Gabrielle to check on her more thoroughly. Leave it to Eric to vanish moments before his friend could wake up to stop him. 

In another world, Cheri looked down at the solidifying figures on the map. There were distinct features now, and the movements of the characters became more and more fluid as time went on. Her eyes snapped to her brother when he suddenly moved, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. She was by his side in a moment, ignoring the developing ache in her chest.

“I’m not gonna lie,” she said, “I didn’t fully believe you on the magic shit. But this? Kinda makes it hard to deny.” Rubbing his back, she brought him in for a slight hug. After having been threatened by something as wild as... whatever that was, and seeing her brother turned into some meat puppet, it was more for her comfort than his, “Are you with us? How are you feeling?”

“I’m here.” Russel shook his head again, leaning into the hug. Cheri wondered if he even realized he was doing it, “It feels like I’m waking from some drugged induced coma, though. It’s so hard to think...”

“Then don’t. You sit here and focus on staying in control. We’ll figure something out.” Cheri looked at the others.

Alexis was about where Cheri expected her to be - on the edge of what looks like a panic attack, but just managing to stay calm. She had to admit, acting as Gelthorn does wonders to keep the girl relatively calm. Bert wasn’t doing too much better. In fact, Cheri would argue he looked a little worse. His eyes kept staring in shock between the glowing dice, the moving figures on the map, and his own character sheet, probably trying to piece what the hell just happened together. Interestingly, Tim was surprising calmest of the three, but still looked a little distressed as the effects not only persisted but intensified. It was a feeling she had to agree with. 

With a final squeeze, she let Russel go and returned to her sit, the pain dulling as she got closer to her dice. She made a mental note to mention that once they started talking with the NPCs.

“Well everyone,” she began, “we’re in a cavern with the party of the guy who just possessed my brother and forced all of us to be tied to our dice. While this is crazy as hell, we have a possible source of information here.”

Tim and Alexis looked at her, a stern frown on his face and her fingers nervously toying with her hair. Bert’s eyes flickered to her but it was enough to know she had some of his attention. 

She looked down at the glowing dice and then to the figures on the board. Then, she looked to Russel and said, “I walk up to the Gnome...”

The magic user who had been with Eric approached Thistle and said, “Do you know if there’s a way to reverse whatever effects that guy placed on us?”

The paladin looked the woman over but saw nothing wrong, “I suppose it would depend on the effect. Pardon my asking, but I don’t see anything particularly troubling with you. Is there something wrong?”

“You could say that.” She gave a sad smile, “My name is Shalara. Or, more accurately, my character’s name is Shalara. My actual name is Cheri.”

Thistle eyes widened slightly, “Character’s...?”

“It’s a long story,” this time, Timanuel spoke, “but if you’re willing to help fill in some details for us, we can help you, too.”

“Besides, we’ll probably need your help anyways. Whatever your Eric did, it’s still possessing my brother and put us in a bind,” Shalara folded her arms. 

Thistle looked at Grumph who stared at the party before nodding, “We should listen.”

With that, Thistle turned to them, “We’ll swap information. But first, I believe it would be wise to leave the cavern. We don’t know who else might turn up and this is not a discussion to be overheard.”


End file.
